Any philosophy students (undergraduate or graduate) thinking about law school...

UPDATE: Let me respond to some questions that have already been e-mailed me, answers to which might be of general interest. First, these new full tuition scholarships are available to anyone, regardless of nationality. So foreign students can be awarded these lucrative fellowships. Second, there is only one criterion: academic excellence. Numbers are going to be a big part of that, i.e., LSATs in the 98th percentile and higher and GPAs in the 3.9 range and higher. Let me be clear: that's a rough numerical benchmark, not an official cut-off. Having a PhD in philosophy is also obviously going to be a big plus, and certainly the Law School will be looking for candidates with potential to be distinguished academics. (Per capita, Chicago lags only Yale in the number of graduates who go into law teaching.) Third, I do not generally recommend a JD for someone with a PhD (or concurrently pursuing a PhD) unless they are interested in teaching in law schools. While a JD will certainly add some intellectual value and skill sets that can be deployed to good effect in a philosophy career, it does not significantly enhance your competitive position on the philosophy market, and it's not obvious that the costs of the three-year course of study will be worth the intellectual benefits. But for those interested in a law teaching career, a JD/PhD is pretty much de riguer now for anyone who wants to do work at the intersection of law and philosophy and get a job in a law school. I talk a bit in the last paragraph of this old post about some of the difference between teaching philosophy in a law school versus a philosophy department, but I think I'll write something more about this soon.